Coverage of the Frisco RoughRiders from the corner of Hicks & Diamond Drive

Cherish Everyone

Before arriving in Frisco, I had the great pleasure of covering the Ohio University football team. When you are involved in sports, whether as a fan, media member, or broadcaster, you feel like you get to know the members of the team.

Sometimes, those people seem slightly above human. They are all parts of a game that people love. Unfortunately, those players are human, and the Ohio football family found out the hard way Wednesday.

Former defensive lineman Marcellis Williamson passed away just months after finishing his senior season. I talked with him a few times, and he couldn’t have been nicer. Really sad stuff.

Just goes to show that fans should cherish all players, even the ones at less-than-glamorous positions.

Anyways, let’s get happy with a Frisco victory and today’s Facts.

FRISCO FACTS:

A losing-streak snapper never seems to come easily, now does it? Frisco is the best defensive club in the Texas League with a .982 fielding percentage, but Tommy Mendonca, who has probably been this club’s most complete player so far this year, allowed a pair of runs to score on a throwing error.

Mendonca has an extremely strong arm at the hot corner, but sometimes he can be inaccurate on the throws. He has three errors thus far on the young season, which is tied for the most among third baseman in the Texas League.

Credit Mendonca for being patient enough to draw a tenth-inning walk. It is easy for a guy who committed an error and had been 0-for-4 to try to swing as hard as he can and make up for all of it. However, his walk, drawn on a 3-2 count, was the key battle in that tenth inning, if you ask me. Jonathan Greene followed suit with another walk on a 3-2 count that chased home the go-ahead run.

The first and last pitchers who toed the rubber for the RoughRiders were extremely impressive. After a pair of rough starts, righty Carlos Pimentel has had a couple of solid outings. Yesterday, Pimentel allowed only a Blake Tekotte solo homer in six innings of work. He scattered four hits and struck out six, a season high. Over his last two starts, Pimentel has a 2.31 ERA over 11.2 innings.

Overall, Frisco’s starting rotation has improved greatly since the start of the year. Over the last two turns in the rotation, the RoughRiders’ starter has pitched at least five innings eight times.

And how about the effort of Justin Miller. Miller, who had struggled in a few late-game situations earlier this season, was dominant in his two innings of work. With all the momentum in the San Antonio dugout, Miller wiped through the 2-3-4 men in the Missions’ order in the ninth to send the game to extras. After Frisco took the lead in the tenth, Miller did the same.

Miller, like many ‘Riders on the hill, had struggled a bit with his command earlier in the year. Yesterday, he only needed 25 pitches to go through the heart of the best order in the Texas League and retire six straight. 16 of those pitches were over for strikes.

Renny Osuna had a great effort in his return from the disabled list. He drove in a run in the seventh on a double. Three innings later, his leadoff single turned into the eventual game-winning run. On the year, Osuna is hitting .304.

On the flip side, Travis Adair’s Double-A debut wasn’t spectacular. He went 0-for-4 and stranded four men on the bases. However, he did put the ball in play in a scoring chance and earned an RBI on a groundout in the second.

Pretty impressive that the ‘Riders won a game when their 3-4-5 men (Mike Bianucci, Mendonca, Greene) went a combined 0-for-10. Baseball is strange, but the ‘Riders will take it.

Our pre-game coverage begins at 6:35 for the opener of Frisco’s four-game series in Corpus Christi. First pitch is set for 7:05. Enjoy!

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